Electric vehicle sales are weak, with new car sales in Europe declining for the first time this year in March

Affected by the decline in electric vehicle sales and the Easter holiday, new car sales in Europe in March saw a year-on-year decline for the first time this year.

Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) shows that new car sales in the EU market in March dropped by 5.2% to 1 million units. Passenger car sales in Europe, including non-EU member countries such as the UK and Norway, also decreased by 2.8%.

By category, pure electric car sales in the EU market in March decreased by 11.3% to 13,440 units, while hybrid car sales increased against the trend by 12.6%, with France and Italy being the main drivers.

Looking at individual countries, Germany, as the largest car market in Europe, saw a 29% decrease in electric car sales; the situation in the Norwegian market is also very severe, with new car sales plummeting from over 190,000 units in the same period last year to 9,750 units, with the majority being electric cars.

In terms of market share, the market share of pure electric cars in the EU decreased from 13.9% in the same period last year to 13%, but Belgium and France achieved double-digit growth in the pure electric car market, increasing by 23.8% and 10.9% respectively. The market share of hybrid cars increased from 24.4% to 29%.

The recent slowdown in electric vehicle sales is not limited to Europe.

On April 2nd, Tesla's first-quarter car production and delivery report revealed that Tesla's deliveries decreased by 8.5% year-on-year to approximately 386,800 units, a decrease of over 20% from the previous quarter, far below analysts' previous expectations of 449,000 units, marking the largest deviation from expectations on record